Our purpose in visiting Colorado was to check a few more national parks off our bucket list. I don’t think we will ever be able to visit all of the 64 parks, but I am hoping we can at least make it half way. This trip will add three more to the list with Great Sand Dunes National Park our first one.
I have to admit I had not heard of Great Sand Dunes until I started researching our national parks. It is not one of the better known national parks, but it has some amazing features. It offers the largest sand dunes in the United States. That seems surprising since it’s not near the ocean. The park also provides some beautiful views, well worth a visit to check out.
It did not take long to get to Great Sand Dunes from Alamosa. There are actually two routes to take. One of them we had followed yesterday when we drove down so we took the other route going east and then north. This route took us along more straight roads. It was about a half hour drive. We initially stopped at the visitor center to orient ourselves to the park.
In preparing for this trip I had read that one of the unique features of the park was a springtime return of Medano Creek. As the snow melts in the mountains, the water begins to flow into Medano Creek which is at the edge of the dunes. Late May to early June is typically the time when the creek is at its highest, and then it begins to dry up. Because of its popularity, the park puts out a daily report on the creek’s condition and water flow.
Medano Creek becomes a great draw for families. The water is never really very deep, and while it is cold, the shallow depth allows the sun to warm it up some. When we arrived for our visit, the creek was pretty shallow in most places. We saw children playing in the water, and many adults took off their shoes to wade in the creek or walk across it to get to the other side.
We chose not to wade in the creek. Instead we decided to follow the creek for a ways in hopes of finding a spot where we could cross without getting our shoes wet. We never found that spot. However, it was a good walk along the water, and we encountered a number of things. One thing we noted was that there were some rocks in places, probably brought down the mountain during heavy water flow. The rocks were granite and had beautiful colors of blues and greens.
I also enjoyed the patterns caused by the creek. It is very wide in some places so the water moves in small strands leaving other areas dry. The sand itself is also different colors. There were a number of places with patterns created by a navy colored sand that seems to float to the top of the sand and dry there.
One interesting encounter we had was with two guys and their dog. The dog appeared to be wearing blue reflective sunglasses over his eyes as they walked along. I commented to the guys as they walked by. One said it wasn’t just for the sun. The glasses also helped keep the sand out of his eyes since he was lower to the ground. Interesting.
We had originally thought we would climb up the sand dunes. There is a trail that goes up to the top of the dunes. However, realizing that we first had to cross the creek and then climb in sand quite high, we changed our mind. I put on my telephoto lens to try to get photos of those who were actually climbing up the dunes. In truth there didn’t seem to be that many brave souls. Even with my telephoto lens those who were really high up appear as just dots on the sand.
Another activity we saw a little bit of was sand boarding. This is like snowboarding. Boarders have special boards made for use in the sand. Most of this took place again at a distance so I wasn’t able to get good shots of this. As we were leaving the main dunes area, we saw a group of young people with their boards going over to the dunes. We also saw a family with little kids attempt to do some boarding.
Here are a few more photos from the creek and dunes. Some also show Mt. Herard which is a prominent peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range.
After spending quite a bit of time walking along Medano Creek, we decided to try something else. Although the sand dunes are the main attraction in the park, the boundary of the park extends into the nearby mountains. One of the trails listed was to an overlook to give us a larger view of the dunes. The hike began in a nearby campground so we drove over and began the hike.
The weather on this day was sunny. Only a few clouds dotted the sky. Despite the constant sun, the winds could be quite strong. That helped to cool us off. Nevertheless hiking in the sun was a bit of a challenge. We found ourselves hiking and stopping frequently when we came to a tree that would give us some shade. I stopped also to take photos of some of the plants in the area.
It wasn’t just the heat that made the hike challenging, it was also the altitude. We had already discovered that our breathing was somewhat impacted by the high altitude, and climbing up a hill only made the matter worse.
Finding trees to give us shade was not always easy. The trees here are not generally tall trees. They are very rugged trees, often twisted around as they are buffeted by the wind and the winter snow. In fact I found the trees quite interesting and enjoyed photographing some that had an interesting form or shape.
Initially the trail went kind of up and down. We would hike down and through small ravines. Sometimes steps had been added to help hikers get out of steeper ravines. Eventually the trail just kept going up. Switchbacks were used to move hikers upwards. The hike was only about a mile one way, but the effort we exerted made it feel a lot longer.
The last tenth of a mile was the steepest, and the trail was scattered with granite chips which felt loose under our shoes. Despite it all we made it to the top where we found two wooden benches. We were grateful to have a place to sit although there was no shelter from the sun.
From this overlook we could see over the Great Sand Dunes to the distant mountains beyond. We also could see how large the dunes really are. From the main visiting spot, visitors only see one side of the dunes, but from this high vantage point we could see how far back the dunes went.
After taking time for pictures and resting we began the mile trek down. We were particularly cautious at the beginning where the loose granite was, but we made it without any major incidents. About three quarters of the way down we met another couple coming up. They were the only people we saw on the hike so it was not a crowded trail.
At this point we were worn out and made our way back to our motel. We went out for pizza and then retreated to our room for the night. Tomorrow will be another travel day as we head west toward our next national park near the Utah border. Join us for that journey next week. In the meantime be sure to share your insights and experiences at Great Sand Dunes in the comment box below.